I finally finished this game, and I wondered what other people's thoughts on it and the series are. Overall, I think 999 was better, but the story which is the most important part of these games was at least as good in VLR if not better. I also just read the Q&A from the creator on the official site, and the third one already sounds like it won't be as good because we already know too much about it.

I've really enjoyed the series as a whole, but I can't really say that knowing some of what's going to happen will hamper the experience. It's a lot like when literature spoils some of the plot, like in Romeo & Juliet. Even though we know the titular characters are going to die, we then focus on things like "How do their deaths come about?" and "What else is going to happen?", which gives us a greater appreciation for the craft of those elements instead of just playing for the story, so to speak. And given the sheer number of curveballs VLR threw at us (like the location, Tenmyouji's situation, Phi as a whole, etc.), surely what we know will happen in the third game can't be all that the creators have in store for us to experience.

Yeah, I'm sure that they will have a number of new and creative ideas, but it already just seems like there are so many connections that we already know about. VLR had a lot of connections, but besides Clover, Zero, and the Nonary Game we didn't know what they were. So many questions that fans asked about people like Snake, Santa, Ace, and others the response was "Wait for the third game." The mystery and the suspense was what made even VLR great, and although there are bound to be many surprises, it already seems like much of the suspense is gone. I do wonder about Brother, though, because the Q&A made it sound like we probably already know who it is, but none of the characters from 999 are a good match to be him.

My complaints would be that there's no English voiceover for the 3DS version and that there is a lot of repetition. But those are pretty minor complaints overall. Loving it.

The English voicing in the NA 3DS version is actually pretty good. I usually make a point of listening only to the Japanese dub, but I'm making an exception with this game.

Anyhow, around 30h in and loving it. It would be hard for the story to top 999's, though. Also, the game seems more sci-fi and less horror this time around. There is a lot of morbid humor in this game. Zero Jr. is a delight in particular.

Yeah, I found the flowchart to be kind of necessary evil. I put over 48 hours into the game even with it, so I'd be playing for a decade if I had to replay everything every time. But it definitely got rid of most if not all the tension. I still hated to betray Luna, but it always felt like I'll just do this because I have to to see everything and it doesn't really matter. All your choices felt like they mattered in 999, and that wasn't the case this time. But, yeah, still a great game.

Yeah, I found the flowchart to be kind of necessary evil. I put over 48 hours into the game even with it, so I'd be playing for a decade if I had to replay everything every time. But it definitely got rid of most if not all the tension. I still hated to betray Luna, but it always felt like I'll just do this because I have to to see everything and it doesn't really matter. All your choices felt like they mattered in 999, and that wasn't the case this time. But, yeah, still a great game.

The parts with Luna were hard. Eventually I'd get to the point where I had to betray her to see the nearby story branches. I'd do it, feel like crud just for doing it, then have to face her tearful anger at me betraying her.

The game at least does a good job of making you feel bad for being a jerk. And I do like that the choices in VLR feel more meaningful than 999 ("Do I betray or trust this person?" vs. "Let's see, which random door should I go for?")

Faithful believer in God-Emperor Nintendo and its chosen messiah, the Nintendo Switch.